It’s official. After months of speculation, the Missouri Tigers announced Sunday that they will be leaving the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference effective July 1, 2012 for the 2012-13 athletic season.

The addition of Missouri (and Texas A&M in September) marks the first expansion for the SEC since it added Arkansas and South Carolina and split into divisions in 1991. Though it has yet to be officially announced, the expectation is that Mizzou joins the East division.

“The Presidents and Chancellors of the Southeastern Conference are pleased to welcome the University of Missouri to the SEC,” said Bernie Machen, chair of the SEC Presidents and Chancellors and president of the University of Florida. “The University of Missouri is a prestigious academic institution with a strong athletic tradition and a culture similar to our current institutions.”

“The Southeastern Conference is a highly successful, stable, premier athletic conference that offers exciting opportunities for the University of Missouri,” Missouri chancellor Brady J. Deaton said. “In joining the SEC, MU partners with universities distinguished for their academic programs and their emphasis on student success. The SEC will provide our student-athletes with top flight competition and unparalleled visibility. We came to this decision after careful consideration of the long term best interests of our university. We believe the Southeastern Conference is an outstanding home for the Mizzou Tigers, and we take great pride in our association with this distinguished league.”

“I am pleased to officially welcome the University of Missouri to the SEC family on behalf of our presidents, chancellors, athletics directors, students and fans,” SEC commissioner Mike Slive said. “Missouri is an outstanding academic institution with a strong athletic program. We look forward to having the Tigers compete in our league starting in 2012.”

GETTING TO KNOW MISSOURI
[EXPAND Click to expand and read the remainder of this post.]UNIVERSITYEstablished: 1839Location: Columbia, MissouriEnrollment: 33,805 (fall 2011)Campus: 1,372 acresColors: Black and “MU gold”Motto: Let the Welfare of the People be the Supreme LawPresident: Dr. Brady J. DeatonNotes: First public insitutation of higher education west of the Mississippi, member of the Association of American Universities, world’s most powerful university research reactor, one of six public universities in the United States with schools of medicine, veterinary medicine, engineering, agriculture and law all on one campus

Andrew: You forgot academically. Missouri along with Texas A & M are members of the AAU (Association of American Universities). The sixty-one member group is comprised of the leading research universities in the country and the new schools join Florida and Vanderbilt as the only SEC members.

exactly right, and MU bring in the Kansas City market, a fairly large demographic. Not to mention it gets off the 13 team scheduling which would be truly ugly. Mizzou is only slated to be in the east for next season with TAMU in the west, who knows how divisions will realign after that, or if they will go after 2 more to get a 16 team super conference (although I don’t see much to gain there with the new ACC buyout going up so high, some teams there that may have been attractive are unlikely, and the BE or Big 12 don’t really have anyone at this point that would benefit us except for a Texas or Oklahoma type thing, and doesnt sound like any of them are interested any longer)

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